Tuesday, November 27, 2012

no. 117 - ted simmons

Who is the man: Ted Simmons had just completed his rookie season when this card hit packs, appearing in 82 games for the Cardinals and platooning behind the plate with Joe Torre.

Can ya dig it: Ted appears to be squatting on the sidelines in what seems like Dodger Stadium. Is that Dodger Stadium? I have such a terrible time IDing ballparks.

Right on: Rookie card! A good one, too.

You see this cat Simmons is a bad mother: Simmons was known to have a temper during his playing days. When a player with a temper encounters another player with a temper -- even if he's a teammate -- bad things happen. In 1977, Cardinals pitcher John Denny, known for his loud mouth, received a whooping from Simmons behind the dugout.

Shut your mouth: Simmons did not get along with Cardinals manager/GM Whitey Herzog, and in 1980, Herzog responded by trading Simmons to the Brewers. But the deal turned out far better for the Brewers than the Cardinals.

No one understands him but his woman: Simmons has received a lot of backing from the "Put Him in the Hall Already" crowd. But Simmons was on the ballot for just one year in 1994 and received so little support that he was deemed ineligible for further consideration.

(A word about the back): Wow. Simmons is so clean-cut here. Hey, Archie, where's Jughead? I grew up with the long-haired, tough-guy Simmons of the mid-1970s. This makes no sense to me.

4 comments:

that's shea stadium. although it's easy to mistake for dodger stadium thanks to the similarly colored seats and general layout. the giveaway in this photo is that the visitor's dugout is on the third base side. other photos from shea in the 1970 and 1971 sets are easier to spot because they lack the palm trees and pavilion. this has been a stadium identification public service announcement.